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Lyrics

TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT

Live 11 Aug 1999 version

[Spoken intro:] Do you want to take it higher? Come on, band! One, two, three four!

One, two, three, four!

Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Like the whole world walking pretty
And you can’t find the room to move
Everybody better move over, that’s all
Running on the bad side
With my back to the wall, now

I was stranded in the jungle
Taking all the heat they were giving
Yeah, now, the night is dark and the sidewalk bright
And lined with the light of the living
From a tenement window a transistor blast
Turn around the corner things got real quiet real fast
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it again!
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)

Well, I’m all alone, I’m all alone[Clarence Clemons:] Now, kid, you’d better get the picture!
Man, I’m on my own, I’m on my own
Oh, and I can’t find my way back home, now
Come on, man!

[Spoken:] Oh, that’s right. Got a story to tell you! When I was a young man, I walked as a little child. And you know how when you’re a child, if you get caught in the forest as night is falling, you’re frightened of moving through those woods to make it back home? Well, when we grow up, we’re supposed to leave our fears behind, but that doesn’t always happen. And so, as a young man I found myself standing before that dark grove of trees, frightened to move on to the other side, where I knew that the river of life was waiting. And the river of love! And the river of meaning! And cold beer at a reasonable price. And the problem was, wherever I walked, I was walking alone. And as I stood before those, those trees that night, something led me on and gave me courage to move forward into the woods, I heard something that sounded so sweet. Come on, Roy! Oh, it was Professor Roy Bittan, playing on the piano. And then I walked on, and I found a man, guitarist, star of the Sopranos, rock and roll musician, politician, renaissance man, Mr. Steve Van Zandt! Play it, Steve! Whoa! Stevie Van Zandt on the guitar! And then I walked on, and I heard a deep, deep, deep, deep rumble coming out of the woods. Play it, Garry! Yeah, Mr. Garry W. Tallent on the bass guitar! And then I walked on, and I heard something mighty thundering from the trees! Come on, Max! Get that! Yeah! Mighty Max Weinberg, star of late night television on the drums! And then I walked on, and I heard something swing above the trees. Come on, Nils! Hey! Hey! The greatest guitar man in the land, Mr. Nils Lofgren on the guitar! And then I walked on, and I heard something, something whistling through the treetops. Come on, Danny! Whoa! Phantom Dan Federici on the organ! And then I walked on, and I noticed in the treetops a bluebird of love flying from branch to branch, and it nestled right here on my shoulder, and it whispered something in my ear, it said

Brunettes are fine, blondes are fun
But when it come to getting a dirty job done
It takes a
(Red headed woman)
Yeah, man, I think it takes a
(Red headed woman)
I said, I’m searching for a
(Red headed woman)
I’ve got to find myself a
(Red headed woman)
I come a-looking for a
(Red headed woman)
Oh, in the midnight hour, baby
(Red headed woman)
Yeah, said, I’m searching for a
(Red headed woman)
I got to find myself a
(Red headed woman)
Oh, come on, baby, now

[Patti Scialfa:] Baby, take a walk in toy land[Patti Scialfa:] Be my hero, play the part[Patti Scialfa:] I’m falling down hard from salvation[Patti Scialfa:] Come protect this china heart[Patti Scialfa:] Though my party dress is torn, I still[Patti Scialfa:] Walk and talk and cry and crawl[Patti Scialfa:] I’ve got no one on my arm[Patti Scialfa:] I am just a rumble doll

[Spoken:] Oh, hit me! Miss Patti Scialfa on the guitar and vocals! Now, I’d made it all the way through the woods, almost to the other side. But there was still something really important missing. Something really essential that we could not go on without! Something really big! Say who? Say who? Say who? Say who? Say who? Say what? Say what? Say what? Say what? Say what? Say what?

Well, they made that change uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to the city
The little pretties raise their hand
I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half

Whoa, ooh, oh!
Oh yeah, it’s all right, now
It’s all right
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right (it’s all right)
I said, it’s all right, now
All right, whoa
It’s all right

And that’s all we got here tonight. The E Street Band! The E Street Band! The E Street Band!

[Spoken outro:] The E Street Band!

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 11 Aug 1999 performance of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT at Continental Airlines Area in East Rutherford, NJ, during The Reunion Tour. The song was played in a heavily extended full-band version including band introductions and a variety of interpolated songs and song snippets: RED HEADED WOMAN and Patti Scialfa's RUMBLE DOLL. Steven Van Zandt also played a snippet from Sam & Dave's SOUL MAN for his solo.

Ticket stub for the 11 Aug 1999 show at Continental Airlines Area, East Rutherford, NJ

This was the fourteenth of a fifteen-night stand at Continental Airlines Arena.

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

List of available versions of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT on this website: